Increasingly, part-time contracts are the norm, and multiple streams of income could be your saving grace. Consider a “bridge job”—like a part-time gig in another field, or even (gulp) a lower-paying position, says Myers.

These days, a jump off-road won’t be seen as a resume blotch: Prospective employers value self-starters with the creative oomph for a little reinvention.

Work it. How has the recession changed the way you think about your career?